Except for the case in which boots are adapted to be fastened by means of buckles or Velcro® strips, they are generally provided with strings or laces. Such strings, usually in the number of one or—at the most—two, extend along a zigzag path on the boot as they are routed at sharp alternate turns through a number of traction eyelets attached along the two adjacent borders of an aperture provided in the boot, usually in the front portion thereof, where the foot is inserted (see for instance EP 1 541 049). When a string is then pulled, this is caused to slide through the eyelets, thereby pulling the borders of said aperture closer to each other and, ultimately, closing said aperture.
Described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,241 is a locking arrangement for strings or laces, in which there are provided two guides with a U-shaped cross-section, in which two strings, i.e. a string for each guide, can be inserted and pulled parallelly along a traction direction. To lock the strings in position, the need arises then for said strings to be bent towards each other, so that a toothing provided in the upper portion of each guide is able to engage the respective string, thereby locking it. This however requires a quite inconvenient and unnatural movement to be performed by the wearer, since he/she has to cross his/her arms above the foot while keeping the strings tight and stretched.
EP 1 112 697 discloses a fastening arrangement, in which two ends of a string extending in a zigzag pattern all along the instep, i.e. the arched upper part of the foot in the boot, slip into a double guide tunnel that is oriented along the longitudinal axis of the foot, and terminate into a clevis. In this way, the wearer is able to seize the clevis by remaining in an almost erect posture, and pull it to thereby tighten the string around the foot. However, the string must then be locked in the desired position by using another appropriate contrivance, otherwise it would slide backwards and slacken, thereby undoing the fastening effect of the boot. It may be readily appreciated that it is quite inconvenient for the wearer to have to stretch the string, i.e. keep it tight, and lock it at the same time onto the boot, since he/she must stoop to do this. Moreover, apart from this adding some complications to the string locking arrangement itself, the need arises here to provide a kind of “case” in the boot, where the clevis can be accommodated and retained, so that it does not get in the way, i.e. is not of hindrance during normal use of the boot.
The string locking arrangement disclosed in US 2005/0097780 is provided on the front tongue of the boot and is formed of a mushroom-shaped protrusion, under which one or more strings are run to fit in and be retained under pressure by projecting teeth so as to effectively prevent them from sliding. For the boot to be fastened, the string must be pulled sideways relative to the foot, be run under the protrusion, and finally be pulled upwards. In this way, the string is caused to be trapped and locked up by the teeth. Anyway, having to pull the string—or, still worse, a couple of strings—by exerting a force sideways relative to the foot, is not really something that can be done in a much convenient manner.
Described in DE 102 38 025 is again a locking arrangement for the fastening strings of a boot. This arrangement is formed of a kind of grooved boss, in the groove of which there are provided projecting ribs in the shape of a V having its vertex facing the bottom of the rib. The string can wedge itself in the vertex of the V-shaped ribs, thereby remaining locked therein, or slide thereabove when it is at a standstill and is being pulled, respectively. The effects of a variation in the tension on the string are boosted by the provision of an elbow-shaped rebound provided in the route followed by the string as determined by the narrow radius of curvature of the groove. Now, for the entire boot to be duly fastened, a plurality of devices such as the one described above are needed, actually, and the string must be run, i.e. passed by hand through each one of them—one by one.
Other string locking arrangements, which are conceptually similar to the above-described one, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,428 and FR 2 847 129. In these cases use is made of loops in which there are provided fixed retaining teeth projecting therefrom, which are effective in retaining the string when—by assuming a particular mutual arrangement—they come into engaging the same string.
Known in the art are also a number of further string locking arrangements, such as for instance the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,114 or U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,670, in which use is made of a kind of key or a moving retaining tooth to lock the string onto a guide thereof. Further to being quite complicated, these arrangements require the wearer to perform an additional operation in that he/she—further to pull the strings—has in fact to also lock them in position.